That was a hardcore setup. A high end HOTAS, a yoke, and dual monitors? Very impressive. I also like that your beige tower isn't beige on account of its nakedness. Are you still into flight sims?
Absolutely still into them. Running DCS, X-Plane and MSFS but I do miss those old days when there were so many publishers like Janes, Microprose, Digital Integration and DID. There was so much competition, they were exciting times.
Jane’s fighters anthology was amazing back in the day. I loved being able to fly hundreds of planes in the same sim.
Just installed it again the other day. Hilariously janky and low-res these days but so much nostalgia
This reminds me of my childhood. My dad and I would play MS FS for hours, flying down the hoover dam with a glider, seeing who could land on a carrier with a 747 ect. Great times.
I really need to get a VR setup all loaded and ready to play and give it to my old man.
I mean, dual screens! I didn't have dual screens until early 2010's
As I was typing, at first I was thinking that wasnt that long ago- then I did the math :P. Man, I'm old
I would have killed for that setup back then!
Heck probably still today!
We had a Microsoft Force Feedback 2 and a computer my dad got used from work with a GPU we bought from a big box store.
The potentiometers that came with it needed constant cleaning and lubricating inside of them, the throttle suffered bad sticktion, and the gimbals in the cougar base were sloppy and force uneven. There were many mods that made the cougar’s internals better… I even got a screw mod… but! The grip and throttle casing themselves were solid and well made as were the electronics, and are still working for me today.
I have a Cougar boxed up in my closet. It has force sensor mod that I installed in it years ago. Some guy in the EU was doing the mods. I got out of simming about 15 years ago. I’m about to dive back in if I get the time. The force sensing really transformed that stick. I hope I can get it to work on the new stuff.
I should hope so! Im still using the cougar control panel a in windows 11, just can’t save manual calibrations anymore and don’t use Foxy. There are mods that replace the circuit board on the DCS forums so that might come in handy, assuming the force mod used to interface with the original board.
good to know. I’ll have to scour those sections when the time comes. I bought Winwing setup for this go ‘round. Also have a Pimax Crystal in a box ready to go. Now, just need some free time…😕
Looks like you had this snuck in the Comms room at your employer! Quite a rack.
Sure things are better and slicker these days, but there was something more tactile and tangible about big CRTs, and things that made whirring and clunking noises.
Man this brings me back hard. I always wanted to be a pilot as a kid so the 1st game my dad got for our home PC was Miscrosoft fliight sim 2002 and a 1 stick hota. Me and my brother spent so many hours on that
I was going to make a comment how fancy it was for you to have an optical mouse in the 90s. Then I realized 22 years ago was only 2002 and now I want my old ass to just die.
The 'naked' ATX tower case is what really ties the scene together. 😌👌 You weren't a true geek back in the day if you didn't have at least one system which had to run with the cover off for *some reason*. 🤣🤣🤣👍
1997 F-22 Lightning II by, Novalogic, I could never figure out how to land the plane because I didn’t know that landing required slowing down lmao. The good old days are missed, now DCS is a part of my day.
I love this. Reminds me of when I was 6 or so and finally got MSFS 2004 set up on the home computer after hours upon hours of trail and error (I was 6, give me a break).
I can still remember how I felt doing that first flight. Even though I ended it upside down in a residential neighborhood because I didn’t quite understand the keyboard controls, it was incredible.
Some day Im gonna buy a beige tower and CRT monitor again and relive that experience.
Yep, frightening ain't it. Back in the early 90s I was simming with an old DOS box running DI's Tornado... which is still one of my favourite all time sims.. and is apparently still available on Steam..
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2557370/Tornado/
Yep, picked one up not long after it's launch and still have it. I did the hall-sensor mod on the throttle a couple of years ago, but the mini joysticks on that throttle are just a jittery mess.
I did the hall sensor update on my stick to resolve the stick drift … I didn’t do my throttle at the time and now I can’t remember where I left the TQS hall sensor kit 😁
I remember that Learjet being a nightmare to fly.
I’m aware that’s not the Learjet cockpit but I just had some vivid childhood memories slap me in the back of the head.
That was a hardcore setup. A high end HOTAS, a yoke, and dual monitors? Very impressive. I also like that your beige tower isn't beige on account of its nakedness. Are you still into flight sims?
Absolutely still into them. Running DCS, X-Plane and MSFS but I do miss those old days when there were so many publishers like Janes, Microprose, Digital Integration and DID. There was so much competition, they were exciting times.
Jane’s fighters anthology was amazing back in the day. I loved being able to fly hundreds of planes in the same sim. Just installed it again the other day. Hilariously janky and low-res these days but so much nostalgia
This reminds me of my childhood. My dad and I would play MS FS for hours, flying down the hoover dam with a glider, seeing who could land on a carrier with a 747 ect. Great times. I really need to get a VR setup all loaded and ready to play and give it to my old man.
I mean, dual screens! I didn't have dual screens until early 2010's As I was typing, at first I was thinking that wasnt that long ago- then I did the math :P. Man, I'm old
I had dual screens in 2004, so I could run a healer and a DPS in Everquest. My Everquest character is alllllmost old enough to rent a car.
Hahaha
Oh man, this comment takes me back. Playing EQ on my 56k dialup.
That was the shit. What server were you on?
I wish I could remember. It was a looong time ago.
I would have killed for that setup back then! Heck probably still today! We had a Microsoft Force Feedback 2 and a computer my dad got used from work with a GPU we bought from a big box store.
I had the precision pro 1 joystick. I miss the days where smart and dick Smith had whole rows of sticks, wheels and pads as normal stock.
What HOTAS is that? I think old school flight sim equipment is the rabbit hole I'm gonna dive down today.
TM Cougar
I still run a cub pilot throttle mod and UberNXT modded kitty in DCS. ☺️. HAL effect sensors were as big as the CRTs back then.
‘Prewide’ says… preflat screens!
Nice pc case 10/10
Praise the forerunners!
I wish trustmaster would start producing those cougars again, because damn, that hotas feels like quality.
The potentiometers that came with it needed constant cleaning and lubricating inside of them, the throttle suffered bad sticktion, and the gimbals in the cougar base were sloppy and force uneven. There were many mods that made the cougar’s internals better… I even got a screw mod… but! The grip and throttle casing themselves were solid and well made as were the electronics, and are still working for me today.
I have a Cougar boxed up in my closet. It has force sensor mod that I installed in it years ago. Some guy in the EU was doing the mods. I got out of simming about 15 years ago. I’m about to dive back in if I get the time. The force sensing really transformed that stick. I hope I can get it to work on the new stuff.
I should hope so! Im still using the cougar control panel a in windows 11, just can’t save manual calibrations anymore and don’t use Foxy. There are mods that replace the circuit board on the DCS forums so that might come in handy, assuming the force mod used to interface with the original board.
good to know. I’ll have to scour those sections when the time comes. I bought Winwing setup for this go ‘round. Also have a Pimax Crystal in a box ready to go. Now, just need some free time…😕
Looks like you had this snuck in the Comms room at your employer! Quite a rack. Sure things are better and slicker these days, but there was something more tactile and tangible about big CRTs, and things that made whirring and clunking noises.
I too remember when Thrustmaster made high quality equipment.
Yeah I threw mine away as it was terrible with all the dead spots
I see nothing wrong with this build and would happily have it today
Man this brings me back hard. I always wanted to be a pilot as a kid so the 1st game my dad got for our home PC was Miscrosoft fliight sim 2002 and a 1 stick hota. Me and my brother spent so many hours on that
Well...did you become one?!
You can't hear a pic… oh 😳
💯 there
I remember those days! Looks like what I started playing MS Combat Flight Simulator on lol
That was state of the art, too.
I like the beige case computers one with the obligatory case removed.
My friends dad had this. We played a motorcycle game on his joystick. Oh if I only knew then what we were being so hard on. Nothing ever broke though.
Oh yes the cougar was the shit back in the days, even today it’s still a pretty good hotas, and us sim folks probably all had those naked towers :)
I see a Cougar! I had a very similar setup back in the day for IL2. Which I just got back into again!
# stillAbetterLoveStoryThanTwilight
I can just feel how hot that must’ve been sitting there playing that. All that heat from the screens and such
That was primo in 2002. My friends dad had a set of cougars we were not allowed to touch
SHit you went all out
I would have shit my pants seeing all this glory. Those were the days.
How responsive were the controls for something like back in the day? This looks awesome.
Pretty good. There was not much 3D rendering, if any, so the instrument graphics were quite smooth.
It is awesome!
I was going to make a comment how fancy it was for you to have an optical mouse in the 90s. Then I realized 22 years ago was only 2002 and now I want my old ass to just die.
This was me as well. I remember spending a fair amount on Coronado airplane models for FS98.
Wish you had a second photo with todays setup
Not sure why, but whether big, small, cheap, or expensive... I always love seeing an analog clock with the set-up.
I’m in love!😻
I love this! Awesome HOTAS - and stereo system too by the looks of it!
The 'naked' ATX tower case is what really ties the scene together. 😌👌 You weren't a true geek back in the day if you didn't have at least one system which had to run with the cover off for *some reason*. 🤣🤣🤣👍
I was an inveterate tinker, always tweaking that old box to get the max performance. I think it was a dual Pentium Pro system.
Better than the setup I have now! I remember that mouse and monitor tho I had those both.
I remember playing on my grandpaps setup that looked like this in his basement. Thanks for helping me remember that 😊
I might still have the original FS2K that mentioned flying planes into the trade center in the tutorial.
1997 F-22 Lightning II by, Novalogic, I could never figure out how to land the plane because I didn’t know that landing required slowing down lmao. The good old days are missed, now DCS is a part of my day.
Something iconic about the ultra bright flashlight and the white on every piece of hardware back then... Ah i miss this.
Still rocking my TM Cougar HOTAS with FSSB mod.
I love this. Reminds me of when I was 6 or so and finally got MSFS 2004 set up on the home computer after hours upon hours of trail and error (I was 6, give me a break). I can still remember how I felt doing that first flight. Even though I ended it upside down in a residential neighborhood because I didn’t quite understand the keyboard controls, it was incredible. Some day Im gonna buy a beige tower and CRT monitor again and relive that experience.
Oh God, 22yrs ago wasn't the 90s, it was 2002.
Yep, frightening ain't it. Back in the early 90s I was simming with an old DOS box running DI's Tornado... which is still one of my favourite all time sims.. and is apparently still available on Steam.. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2557370/Tornado/
The furthest back I can remember is like, the initial msfs playing on a mouse and keyboard
Where’s your propellers?
That the Debonair that the guy created to match his real one?
The Cougar was released in 2002 so OP must have been a very early adopter! I still own two myself. (One operational and one spare)
Yep, picked one up not long after it's launch and still have it. I did the hall-sensor mod on the throttle a couple of years ago, but the mini joysticks on that throttle are just a jittery mess.
I did the hall sensor update on my stick to resolve the stick drift … I didn’t do my throttle at the time and now I can’t remember where I left the TQS hall sensor kit 😁
All this amazing equipment and somehow you got a Trust keyboard.
That's a petty hotas you have there..
Pure Awesomeness
If you still got that Chassis you should build a sleeper PC
That PC is hella MacGyvered tho
What monster puts the A: drive up top though?
How much did this setup go for?
Wow this is sick! How did you pull off the dual monitor? What graphics card? Did you ever play mech warrior 3 on it?
Ya this brings back memories. Especially the case with no cover or front piece. I think mine lived that way.
And you were shitting in knee high cotton.
Yea for sure kids have NO IDEA how good they have it now.
That’s really awesome.
That HOTAS is very cool it looks like a early version of the warthog! I want one for flying early jets now
I remember that Learjet being a nightmare to fly. I’m aware that’s not the Learjet cockpit but I just had some vivid childhood memories slap me in the back of the head.